Syncretism and indigenisation in the newer Pentecostal and charismatic churches in South Africa

African Journal of Pentecostal Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Syncretism and indigenisation in the newer Pentecostal and charismatic churches in South Africa
 
Creator Kgatle, Mookgo S.
 
Subject theology indigenisation; syncretism; newer Pentecostal and charismatic churches; culture; African Pentecostalism; prosperity
Description Background: Syncretism is a complex subject that represents the combination of more than two religious belief systems with fundamental differences.Objectives: This article aimed to contrast the syncretistic views on the newer Pentecostal and charismatic churches by arguing that cultural adaptation and the prosperity message in these churches represent indigenisation rather than syncretism.Method: This article used the literature review in qualitative research to identify the sources that locate cultural adaptation and prosperity message in newer Pentecostal and charismatic churches within the concept of syncretism to identify the research gaps on the indigenisation of the gospel.Results: The article found that the indigenisation of the gospel is an important theoretical framework in contrasting the syncretistic views in the newer Pentecostal and charismatic churches in the South African context.Conclusion: Cultural adaptation and prosperity message do not always represent syncretistic views of the newer Pentecostal and charismatic churches, if syncretism is understood as a combination of two or more religious belief systems.Contribution: Indigenisation of the gospel is important for the study and understanding of African Pentecostalism, as it assists in arguing against the syncretistic views on the cultural adaptation and prosperity message in the newer Pentecostal and charismatic churches in the South African context.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2026-01-30
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — litrerature analysis
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ajops.v3i1.88
 
Source African Journal of Pentecostal Studies; Vol 3, No 1 (2026); 8 pages 3005-6136 3105-434X
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://ajops.org/index.php/ajops/article/view/88/295 https://ajops.org/index.php/ajops/article/view/88/296 https://ajops.org/index.php/ajops/article/view/88/297 https://ajops.org/index.php/ajops/article/view/88/298
 
Coverage Southern Africa 21st century Indigenisation
Rights Copyright (c) 2025 Mookgo S. Kgatle https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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